Colorado GOP Has Obama to Thank for New Talking Point

President Obama handed Colorado Republicans a golden talking point, a gift-wrapped October surprise, courtesy of MSNBC and the Rev. Al Sharpton, when the chief executive said a vote for Democrats on Nov. 4 is as good as a vote for him.

That’s just what Colorado Republicans have been telling voters as they try to unseat Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and replace him with Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.).

"Well, look, here's the bottom line," said Obama, "We've got a tough map. A lot of the states that are contested this time are states that I didn't win. And so some of the candidates there, you know, it is difficult for them to have me in the state because the Republicans will use that to try to fan Republican turnout. The bottom line is, though, these are all folks who vote with me.”

That was as good as a hanging curve ball in the center of the plate for Ryan Call, the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

“The choice in this year’s election is clear: the harmful policies supported by Mark Udall and President Obama versus a strong economy and brighter future under the leadership of Cory Gardner,” said Call.

“Senator Udall can’t hide his allegiance to President Obama’s extreme agenda. Colorado deserves a brighter future, and on Nov. 4, our new beginning starts with Cory Gardner representing Colorado in the United States Senate.”

This wasn’t the first time Colorado Republicans have been gifted by someone outside the GOP.

Three days before Obama told Sharpton a vote for a Democrat was as good as a vote for him, even though his name was not on the ballot, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced 550,000 people would eventually lose their health insurance due to Obamacare.

Of course, Udall voted for Obamacare. In fact, the Democrat was the deciding vote. And he promised Coloradans, as did so many Democrats, they would be able to keep the insurance policies and doctors they liked after Obamacare became the law of the land.

“Coloradans continue to pay the price for Senator Udall's broken promise,” said Gardner. “It’s unfortunate Sen. Udall has been so eager to please President Obama that he has forgotten thousands of Coloradans across our state. Colorado deserves a senator who will put Colorado first and partisan politics last.”

Udall’s campaign has been so closely tied to women’s healthcare issues and what the Democrats have dubbed the GOP “war on women” that he has been branded “Mark Uterus.”

One reporter said if the Senate campaign in Colorado was a movie, it would have been set in a gynecologist’s office.

“This one-note, fake war on women that the Democrats and Mark Udall have based his entire campaign on just is not working,” Call said in an exclusive interview with PJ Media. “In fact, it is turning off a lot of voters because they realize it is an invented line of attack.”

However, a Quinnipiac University poll released Oct. 16 showed Udall had won the female vote 49 percent to 40 percent. Independent candidate Steve Shogan had 7 percent of the female vote.

The Quinnipiac poll showed Gardner with 42 percent of the vote from people who identified themselves as independents, compared to 39 percent for Udall.

Shogan, the independent candidate, received 13 percent of the vote from people like himself.

Call said it is not just Republicans who are promising to vote for Gardner. Independents are leaning his way too.

“Unlike some who are hyper-partisans and firebrands, Cory (Gardner) has a real consistent record of reaching across the aisle,” Call said.

He admitted that point of view is inconsistent with what the GOP base has been saying it wants in other parts of the country. However, Call stressed Republicans in Colorado believe compromise is a good thing.

“Here in Colorado, we have always prided ourselves on results, on getting stuff done,” he said. “Our electorate has always behaved that way. We routinely will elect Republicans to the state Legislature and a Democrat as governor, and have one Democrat senator and one Republican senator.”

Call also said compromise isn’t just accepted by Republicans in Colorado because it is the right thing to do. It is the only thing to do, if a party or a candidate wants to win.

He pointed out that the electorate is divided up in equal thirds in Colorado – Democrat, GOP and independent – so compromise is pretty much mandatory.